


Reunions

by nerdsarehot75



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, fake dating au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:02:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28567401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdsarehot75/pseuds/nerdsarehot75
Summary: With your high school reunion, you need a favour from your best friend.
Relationships: Loki/Reader, Loki/you
Kudos: 75





	Reunions

“Please?”

“No.”

“Please.”

“No.”

“Pretty please?”

“No.”

“Pretty please with cherries on top?”

“No.”

You pouted, looking up at him from underneath your eyelashes. He rolled his eyes but there was a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. You tugged on his hand, the familiar chill to his skin sending shivers running up your spine. His eyes drifted back to yours and you felt your cheeks heat up. Asking him for this favour made your stomach roil with embarrassment but he was your best friend and there was no one you trusted with this more. 

“Stop that,” he commanded.

“Stop what?” you asked.

“That thing you do with your face that makes you look like a lost puppy that you know I can not say no to,” he said. His fingertips brushed over the apple of your cheek. You felt the beginnings of a smile.

“So you’re saying yes?” you asked.

He sighed and rolled his eyes again but he nodded his head. You squealed and threw your arms around him.

“Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you,” you said, “you’re not going to regret this.”

“Somehow I doubt that,” he said, his arms coming up around your body. You pressed your lips to his cold cheek. He looked down at you, his eyes widening a touch. 

“Thank you Loki,” you said, “I owe you one.”

“I’ll think about what I want in return,” he said, his voice like silk. You’d always said he had a voice for reading novels out loud to audiences. He’d lulled you to sleep with that voice more than once. It was as familiar to you as your own. 

“Thank you.”

________********^********________

You ran your hands over your stomach, looking at the fall of your skirt around your thighs. You ran your fingers along the neckline, not sure if you’d made the right choice. The emerald satin fell from your curves like a waterfall. You tucked some hair behind your ear and took a deep breath in. 

“Everything is going to be okay,” you whispered to yourself. 

You picked up your clutch from your bag and slipped your phone inside. You pulled open your bedroom door and stepped out, doing your best to not break an ankle in your heels. You looked up from fiddling with your clutch and your breath caught in your throat.

Loki had stood from his place on the couch, dark shirt making his pale skin glow. His mouth was open, a tongue darting out to wet thin lips. Your eyes roved over him, taking in the open neck with just a peek of his chest, the way his hair was half tied back from his face in one of those stupid man buns you always gave him shit for, his hands thrust deep in his pockets and loose limbed, all casual and beautiful, just like your best friend always looked. 

“Do I look okay?” you asked, holding your arms out for inspection. 

“Why is this so important to you?” he asked in reply.

“That’s a no,” you said, turning away, “I need to change.”

“Oh no you don’t.” He grabbed your hand, pulling you back towards him. You stumbled in your heels, catching yourself on his arm. He tightened his grip on your hand, “we are already running late.”

“Ever heard of fashionably late?” you asked, disentangling yourself from him.

“There is fashionably late and then there is just disorganised,” he replied.

“And we can be both,” you replied, “fine. Come on.”

Watching Loki drive was like watching a masterclass. He was calm and collected, confident in every move he made. He never got mad at other drivers on the road and his reaction times were impeccable. He was so sure of himself, much like he was in every day life. More than once you’d had to press your thighs together while he reversed with his hand on the back of your headrest, or merged onto the freeway flawlessly. Sometimes being best friends with such a gorgeous man was like living in your own personal hell. 

“A lot of people are here,” he said as he parked in the almost full parking lot. 

“Yeah.” You let out a long breath and pressed your hands together hard enough to stop them trembling. 

“Let us go.”

He opened his door, the light coming on overhead. You kept your eyes trained out the windshield, doing your best to steady your breathing. This was going to be fine, this was all going to be fine. Nothing was going to go wrong. Loki opened his door again and leaned in. 

“Are we going? Or can we go home and order some Chinese?” he asked.

You nodded to yourself and opened your door. He held out a hand to you and you clasped it tight in your own. You knew your palm was sweaty and you were sure it was only the agreement you’d made with Loki that stopped him from pulling away and wiping his hand on his trouser’s leg. 

He led you to the front door, the lights glowing bright in the dark night. Inside a corkboard full of old high school photos showing your graduating class in a variety of old school based activities was the glowing centrepiece of the entrance hall decorations. You were sure none of them featured you. You’d done everything you could to blend into the background back then, focusing on study to get as far from these people as possible. And now you were back. 

“We can leave whenever you want,” Loki said.

“I’m going to go sign in,” you said, instead of giving a proper response. 

Loki placed a hand on the small of your back, leading you into the hall. You clenched your jaw, doing your best to steel yourself for what was to come. Loki lent down, his lips brushing against the shell of your ear.

“Do not forget, you are the smartest person in there,” he whispered, “apart from me.”

You gave a tight chuckle but couldn’t get your shoulders to relax. It felt as if a spotlight had been turned on, pointed in your direction, announcing your presence to all these people you hadn’t talked to in ten years. 

If only your pride didn’t make you want to rub all your success in these people’s faces. 

“Shall we start with a drink?” Loki asked.

“Yes. A drink. That would be good,” you said.

He led you through the crowd to the bar. You kept your eyes trained on your feet, not wanting to look at any of those people. This had been a mistake. 

Loki passed over a drink to you, your poison of choice and you took a long drink from it. He wrapped his arm around your waist. 

“Just breathe,” he said, his voice pitched low, “in and out.”

You closed your eyes following along with his breathing. The tightness in your chest began to abate and you were able to remember you had knees again. You looked down at the drink in your hand.

“How’d you know this was my favourite?” you asked, looking up into his eyes. He looked worried. You reached up a hand, your thumb smoothing the line between his eyebrows. He caught your hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it.

“Because I know everything about you, love,” he said and you felt butterflies erupt in your chest. You worked to squash down the part of you that wished this was all real, that he was actually yours.

“Y/N? Is that you?”

You turned around. Standing before you with a head of beautiful highlights and a perfectly painted on smile was the bane of your teenage existence. Jen; the queen bee from back in the day. She hadn’t explicitly been mean to you or anything but you couldn’t think of a single time she’d talked to you. You were honestly surprised she knew your name.

“Hi Jen,” you said. 

“Wow, it is you,” she said, “I honestly didn’t expect you to turn up.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” you asked. Loki’s hand tightened on your waist. You threaded your fingers through his, your arm crossing over your body.

“You always seemed so above all this stuff,” she said with a laugh, “you always had one foot out the door. Are you still like that?”

“Uh, not really,” you said.

“She likes where her feet are these days,” Loki said, “hello, I am her boyfriend, Loki.”

He held out a hand to Jen. She shook it, her eyes sweeping over him, growing wide as she took him in. She looked back at you, an impressed look on her face.

“Wow, you’re full of surprises tonight,” she said, “how’d you guys meet?”

“She was in my intro to biology class,” Loki said before you could open your mouth, “she walked in, sat down next to me, pulled out pens in every colour and I knew either she would be my rival all year or she was the one. It turns out she was both.”

He pressed a kiss to your temple and you felt your cheeks heat up. 

“So what have you been up to?” you asked before she could dig into your “relationship”. 

“Oh, you know, this and that,” she replied, “I married Dean whose just been promoted which is good as the twins are going to be starting kindergarten soon.”

“Twins, wow, that must… be a lot of work,” you said, hoping that was the right response.   
“You have no idea. I miss having a full nights sleep. You’re so lucky,” she said with a tinkling laugh.

“She has spent the last four years having sleepless nights working on her PhD thesis,” Loki interjected. 

“That’s not the same as having kids,” you said, looking at him.

“It is your baby,” he said.

“It’s never screamed at me,” you retorted.

“You should be proud,” he said.

“I’m not saying I’m not,” you said.

“She is always downplaying her achievements,” Loki said to Jen. 

“We always knew she was the smartest one,” she said, “anyway, I’m going to go say hi to Tracey.”

She disappeared as suddenly as she’d appeared. You turned in Loki’s arm, hitting his chest. He gave you one of those heart stopping smirks and your breath caught in your throat. He tucked your hair behind your ear. 

“You can’t equate my thesis with having twins,” you said.

“You worked very hard on your thesis. You should not downplay it,” he said. 

“That’s not what I was doing and you know that.”

He tightened his arm around your waist, pulling you against his chest. Your breath caught in your throat as you looked up into his glittering green eyes. He gave you one of his typical heart stopping smiles and you had to avert your eyes before you did something stupid. Like kiss him. Or tell him how you felt. 

“Hey,” he gently raised your chin, “you are better than all these people.”

“Even you?” you asked.

“Undoubtedly.”

You laughed, the final tension leaving your body. It didn’t matter what any of these people you hadn’t talked to in a decade thought of you. The need to rub their faces in your achievements was the teenager with the chip on her shoulder talking. You could just have fun with your best friend and ignore how much you wished the fantasy you’d created was true. And ignore some of the looks the other women were throwing your way. 

“There is dancing,” he said, “is that normal?”

“This is my first ten year reunion so I’ve got no clue,” you replied.

“Shall we dance then?”

He took the empty glass from your hand and set it down on the bar. He took your hand and led you to the makeshift dance floor. You wrapped your arms around his neck, his loosely wrapped around your waist. He swayed to the music, better at keeping time than you had ever been. 

“Thank you for this,” you said.

He smiled down at you, his eyes soft and then gently tugged in the end of your hair. Your heart skipped a beat. He was too good at this.

He pulled you closer as the song slowed down. You rested your head on his shoulder, letting out a long breath. He shivered, tightening his hold on you. His hair brushed against the bare skin of your neck. You closed your eyes. 

“If you were going to bring anyone with you to this, I am glad you chose me,” he whispered.  
“You didn’t even want to come,” you said.

“I have enjoyed spending time with you,” he said, “in fact, I think spending time with you is one of my favourite things to do.”

“I’d hope so given I’m your best friend,” you said.

“Yes, my best friend,” he murmured. 

You swayed with him, the spice of his cologne filling your nose, making it hard to concentrate. He gently readjusted his grip on you, lacing his fingers through yours, his other hand splayed over the small of your back. He held your joint hands to his chest, humming along with the tune quiet enough that only you could hear. It reminded you of late nights listening to him hum along to the radio while cooking in your kitchen, nothing but the silver moonlight to guide him. 

“Why did you say yes?” you asked.

“You know I am bad at saying no to you.” His chest rumbled under your hand, “I always have been.”

“Because I look pathetic, I know,” you said with a roll of your eyes.

“Because I want you to be happy,” he said. You blinked up at him, “I would do anything to ensure your happiness.”

“Because I’m your best friend,” you said, more to remind yourself of your place in his life than asking him.

“Because you are the most important person in my life,” he said. 

There was no twinkle in his eye, no quirk to his lips. You had never seen him look less like his mischievous self except during finals weeks. 

“I know what I want in return for coming here tonight,” he said.

“What is it?”

“A kiss.”

You drew back from him, pausing the dancing. He refused to let you pull your hand from his grip. 

“Why?”

“You are smart enough to know how I feel. Do not pretend that you are unaware,” he said.

“How you feel?”

“I was not joking with Jen. That first day in intro to biology I knew. I have been falling in love with you ever since. And unless I am as stupid as my brother then I think you feel the same way,” he explained.

You could feel your mouth hanging open. There was nothing about this you had been expecting. You were sure there were some people staring at you but you were having difficulty wrapping your head around what he was saying. 

“Have I misunderstood?” he asked as the silence stretched between you. 

“No,” you said slowly, “but this is kinda a surprise if I’m honest.”

“I thought I was being obvious,” he said, “why else would I have done so much for you?”

“Because we’re best friends,” you said.

“I once stayed up all night with you building a castle out of playing cards because your aunt bet that you could not,” he said.

“Because we’re best friends,” you replied.

“When was the last time you saw me give up sleep?” he asked.

“When you helped with my thesis,” you said.

“And?”

“During finals when we were studying together.”

“And?”

“That time you drove me home when my grandmother was sick.”

“Are you noticing a pattern here?” he asked.

Your mouth snapped shut before you could reply. There was a pattern, a pretty stark one when you thought about it, which you hadn’t seen before. Every single time you’d needed help, no matter how small, Loki had been there despite in general being a very unhelpful person. 

You reached up, cupping his cheeks and pulling him down. You pressed your lips to his, closing your eyes. His hands landed on your hips, softly kissing you back. It took your breath away, turning your legs into jelly. He drew back, pressing his forehead to yours. 

“It is good to know I am not as stupid as my brother,” he murmured.

“Do you want to get out of here?” you asked.

“I have never wanted anything more.”

________********^********________

You sat on your living room floor, legs stretched out in front of you, a warm box of Chinese clutched in your hand. You were digging through it, trying to find a piece of chicken buried under the rice. Loki’s arm was brushing against yours as he ate from his own take out carton. 

“Why didn’t you say anything before?” you asked. 

“I did not want to ruin our friendship if I was wrong,” he said, “and I was happy to watch from the sidelines as you lived your life.”

“What if I married someone else?” you asked. 

“I would have celebrated as long as he made you happy and was worthy of your affection,” he said, taking a long swig from his bottle of beer. 

“Seriously?” you asked, shifting your body to face him, you drew your knees up, gently bumping his leg with them. 

“You could have told me how you felt,” he said.

“I didn’t think you felt the same,” you said, “we’ve known each other for years and… I dunno I guess I just thought you would like me in the same way.”

“Why? You are my favourite person,” he said.

He gently reached out, taking your chin between thumb and forefinger. He tilted your chin up so you were looking him in the eye. 

“I would do anything for you,” he whispered.

You surged forward, crashing your lips into his. His hand slipped into your hair, tugging on it, pulling you closer to him. He pulled away, tucking some of your hair behind your ear. 

“I love you,” he said.

“I love you too,” you replied.

He passed you his box of noodles, taking your box of chicken from your lap. 

“Now no more talk about you marrying someone else,” he said, “I plan on making you happy for the rest of your life.”

And you believed him.


End file.
